As we look forward to another year I am curious to ask this question. Who is your all time favorite Pats player or players? I'm an old head so I go back to the 60's so I remember Babe Parilli and Gino. My favorites are a dead heat. Troy Brown and Teddy Bruschi. Not superstars but they were good and always seemed to do whatever it takes to win. Others-Andre Tippett,Gino C,Stanley Morgan,Julius Adams, Raymond Claiborne(anyone who could poke Will McDonough in the eye is OK with me LOL) Larry Garren or Garron(not sure how it's spelled) Jim Plunkett(He brought fans to Foxboro)Favorite coach-BB is obviously the best but my favorite is Fairbanks.So innovative. Least favorite-Clive Rush. He obviously had emotional trouble which was a shame but a few months after he resigned he ran a red light in Wellesley and nearly ramed his big Buick Electra 225 into my mothers little Toyota. True story.

If you are older than 40 then you will appreciate the dominance that Hall of Famer John Hannah demonstrated in his guard position throughout the 70's and into the 80's. The Pats running game was unstoppable for years behind Big John and also Leon Gray on that side. But it was mostly behind John and Company including a young Steve Grogan that the Pats should have been the 1976 Super Bowl Champs only to have it stolen from them at Oakland by Ben F'n Dreith on the bogus blow to head call on Ray Sugar Bear Hamilton.

If you are older than 40 then you will appreciate the dominance that Hall of Famer John Hannah demonstrated in his guard position throughout the 70's and into the 80's. The Pats running game was unstoppable for years behind Big John and also Leon Gray on that side. But it was mostly behind John and Company including a young Steve Grogan that the Pats should have been the 1976 Super Bowl Champs only to have it stolen from them at Oakland by Ben F'n Dreith on the bogus blow to head call on Ray Sugar Bear Hamilton. Posted by milodee

John was one of the all time NFL greats no doubt. He would be an obvious choice but these were my favorites not the greatest. Remember we would have had to got to Pittsbugh to play the Steelers because they had home field becuase we were the wild card and they were a division winner even tough we were 11-3 and they were 10-4. They were missing Blier and Harris which would have weakened them. Both Jack Lambert and Lynn Swann said this was the Steelers best team they played on.They started out 1-4 and then gave up like 38 or 39 points. The rest of the year. That is the best defense of af all time. I'm not saying we couldn't beat them but it would have been tough. Damn Ben Drieth.

Troy Brown. 8th rounder. Cut a few times. Special teams burner. Eventual receiver. Sure hands, good routes, humble, did it on offense, defense and special teams. No other player I'm aware of did all this, stayed quiet and decent, and played his whole career for the Pats. Just an awesome guy.

I go way back to 1967 as a Patriots Fan. There have been so many during those years. For me it is Steve "Tough as Scrap Iron" Grogan. As Milodee stated above...we was robbed by that clown Dreith. ALL of the members of that great team deserved to win the ring that year. Also the fans for sitting on those God awful aluminum bleechers in sub-zero temperatures.

Troy Brown. 8th rounder. Cut a few times. Special teams burner. Eventual receiver. Sure hands, good routes, humble, did it on offense, defense and special teams. No other player I'm aware of did all this, stayed quiet and decent, and played his whole career for the Pats. Just an awesome guy.Posted by TroyBrown80

I'd have to agree that Troy Brown epitomizes everything you would want a player to be. The NFL needs more guys like Troy.

Since I went to the very first Boston Patriots game and have been a fan ever since, there are too many to mention but one guy stands out because he was so unusual: Jess Richardson. He was a defensive tackle from 1962-64. Like many early AFL players, he had played in the NFL. He was the last pro football player to play without a face mask. When asked why he didn't wear one he said that his nose had been broken so often it didn't matter. He was one tough SOB.

Back then, a lineman made about $5,000 a year, and it looked like they were having fun. That's why Logan Mankins makes me sick.

Tough one, and I'm not old enough to remember the early 80's and before guys. I think I'll have to go with Bruschi. All heart, I still remember the Colts AFC championship game (04 I think) where instead of tackling Edgerrin James he just ran into the gap ripped the ball out of his hands and took it. He brought an attitude, work ethic, and played in 5 SB's. Had a stroke and came back, and he was never the most gifted athlete but was just a big playmaker for several years.

When Troy Brown was a young slot reciever and occasional punt returner, struggling to start, my friends used to laugh at me when I said he would be one of the best to ever where a Patriot uniform. He seemed too small to last, and kind of slow. I always argued that he was NFL quick and tougher than most recievers.

Then in the 2001 AFC Championship game against the Steelers, Brown returned a punt for a TD, then recovered a blocked kick and made the lateral to Antwan Harris for the TD that sealed the ticket to the Patriot's 1st Super Bowl victory a couple of weeks later. This was the day his legend truly began.

He went on to retire playing 15 season's as a Patriot (second most ever behind Grogan). He has caught more passes as a Patriot than anyone, and was second in recieving yards. He was the man we all looked for on third and 9 during the Super Bowl years, and he never dropped the ball.

Drew Bledsoe started it for me. If we had taken Rick Mirer instead we would have been awful in the 90's.

As for best nicknamed player I gotta say Scooter Mcgruder. Scooter slipping in the endzone during the Fumble Recovery TD versus Jacksonville in the playoffs is priceless. I think it was Otis My Man Smith that returned that fumble.